Page 31 of My Heart Will Find You

His office was facing the back, as Alice’s room was, but it wasn’t in direct view of the stables.

She flung open the door. “I want to show you something.”

“I don’t have time for this,” he said. “I have to—”

“Yeah, I know. Adding up numbers that sometimes look backward is more important than your sister’s raging hormones. Are you afraid to see what your men are up to?”

“My men?” At last he left his chair and went to the door with her.

Etta led the way outside. There was a long stack of firewood at the back, and she directed him to look over it.

When he saw nothing, he turned back to her in annoyance.

“Just wait,” she said, repeating Alice’s words. She stayed back, but she saw by his expression when the men started doing theirMagic Mikeact.

He didn’t watch for long. When he shouted, it was as loud as a dozen trumpets. He didn’t say any words as he seemed too angry to enunciate them. But the men knew what the sound said:Get back to work, and if you put on a show for my sister again, I’ll feed you to the hogs.

Or thereabouts, Etta thought.Did a cattle rancher have pigs?

When he turned around, he didn’t look at her, but stomped back into his office.

Etta followed close behind him. “So who’s the really handsome guy?” she asked. “The one with the muscles? Bet he makes the hearts of all the women flutter. He certainly does a number on Alice. Maybe she’ll be like Julie and elope with him, and they can live in a tent high in the mountains. But I’m sure she’ll send you letters. That’ll be nice.”

Turning, he glowered down at her with a scowl that looked like the wrath of Thor.

But he didn’t scare Etta. She stood her ground, put her hands on her tightly bound waist, and glared right back up at him.

After a full minute, he turned away and went to sit behind his desk, his head bent over the papers.

“Dinner tonight?” she asked with exaggerated innocence. “The lawyer? Or should I invite the handsome cowboy?”

“Dinner,” he growled.

Smiling, Etta left the room. She had a lot of work to do to prepare a nice meal. What was in the kitchen? She hoped she wouldn’t have to cook over an open fire. She could, but it wasn’t easy. And what food was available? Besides beef and beans, that is. If she had yeast, she could bake bread.

She hurried back to Alice’s room. Who cooked for the cowboys? He’d know what was available.

7

Max took the wagon. He didn’t plan to buy supplies, but he needed the challenge of the hard wood. The buggy was faster but it’s what he drove when Alice was with him, so he tended to think of it as gentle.

He had to drive past the big horse trough. What he’d seen there was burned into his mind.

Knowing that the men did it in front of his sister on purpose sent waves of anger through him. That a stranger, the woman he’d married, had shown him what was going on under his nose further infuriated him.

Hank, the major source of the problem, was saddling a horse. In the year he’d worked there, no woman who’d seen him held back from making a comment on his looks. He was a hard worker, but Max was tempted to get rid of him out of sheer annoyance.

He was about to drive past when damned if he didn’t seehertalking to him. His wife!

She didn’t see Max or pretended not to as she lifted her skirts up way too high and ran back to the house.

With his teeth clamped together, he yelled, “Hank!”

The man didn’t have the courage to look Max in the eyes, but hid his face under his hat as he approached the wagon. It looked like he expected to be fired.

“Get in!” Max ordered. Hank looked up in surprise.

“Unless you want to stop and drown your clothes first.”

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